TO THE EDGE: A MOUNT SAINT HELENS SLIDESHOW

Portland Lights Siberian Haze

I wanted to photograph stars this night, but instead haze from Siberian forrest fires were lit by Portland's city lights. It was a cold night.

Not much snow this year

Stacey packs her skis up Monitor Ridge

Backlight

Andy Adkins in the sun's extreme backlight.

Skinning Up

Stacey Guggino puts skins on her skis in preparation for an ascent of Mount Saint Helens.

My pack

I adore my F-stop Satori pack for it's ease of camera access and great harness, but I wish it was a tiny bit bigger for this type of trip...

Setting up the Splitboard

Film-maker extraordinare Andy Adkins readies his split board to climb.

Waxing the skins

Waxing my climbing skins to keep them from absorbing water and balling up with fresh snow.

Headed up

Stacey puts her bindings in climb mode and starts the ascent.

Ridges far below

Andy takes in the big Alpine evening.

Climing in the last light

We hurry for the summit to catch sunset.

Crater Sunset

The view to the west as we rolled up on the Crater. Cornices are a deadly hazard here.

Sunset crater Panoramic

Ultra-hi-rez, ultra-wide panoramic-merger West to the Left; East to the right behind Andy's small figure.

Afterglow

The crater rim fills the foregroud while countless ridges stretch to the last light.

Siberian Haze

Me looking out at Portland lighting haze from Siberian wildfires from my summit bivy on Mount Saint Helens.

Dawn at the Crater Rim

Yeah, 2nd copy of this Panoramic. This is my favorite image from the trip and its the first I created this morning.

A Day At The Office

I love waking up to work in a place like this. Photo of me by Andy Adkins

Steaming Dome & Spirit Lake

Fumerols rise from the growing dome inside the crater. Spirit Lake is still covered with logs from the massive eruption more than 3 decades ago.

Sunstar

Here's Stacey with a sunstar. I love how these look with Alpine skies.

Panoramic of Crater and Camp

This shot shows Andy and work and our camp in the foreground for scale. It's another big Panoramic-Merger

On The Edge

Andy Adkins doing his film-making magic in one heck of a spot.

Crater Abstract

I ljust love the swirly patterns of snow and rock inside the crater.

Breakfast Bivy

Camped at the crater rim of Mount Saint Helens, Andy Adkins boils water for breakfast as the sun rises behind him.

Looking to Rainier

The view from the crater rim out over the dome and Spirit Lake to Mount Rainier.

Below The Rim

Andy hiking below the edge of the crater gives the scene needed scale.

The Best Way Down

There is nothing like descending on Backcountry Skis. If only there was more snow this year.

Well Deserved Cold Ones.

It's always good to bury a treat in the snow for your return to the car...

End of a Great Trip!

Can't wait for the next adventure!

What a trip! A couple of weeks ago I skied Mount Saint Helens with Stacey and my friend Andy Adkins. Andy and I bivyed overnight at the crater rim. Not only did we create a bunch of great photos and video, but we also had a really fantastic time.

Like any mountain expedition, we had surprises. Knowing there was little snow this year, we were still shocked at how little there was down low. Temperatures at the rim were a lot colder than forecast and haze from Siberian wildfires obscured the Milky Way, but gave us a crazy light-show all it's own.

At the top is a 26 image slideshow of the trip. I've briefly captioned each slide to tell the story. Hope you enjoy the adventure.

If you haven't already, I hope that you'll sign up for my free newsletter with tales of adventures, prints, workshops, tips, tricks and all things photographic.

Special thanks go out to Outdoor Research, Black Rapid, and F-Stop for helping us make this trip possible with their amazing gear and support. These guys make incredible gear that shines in demanding expedition use. Also thanks to Andy and Stacey for the shots with me in there...

-Hudson